Sword Art Online: The Spearman
by Survivor0fHathsin
Summary: Calvin is a foreign student who finds himself trapped in the death game Sword Art Online. Through a series of events he finds himself hiding his identity as he tracks those known as Player Killers.
1. Chapter1

Chapter 1

Calvin headed home from another long day at school. His father had moved out to Japan for work almost three years ago now. After the divorce his father thought that it would be good for them both to get some distance and start fresh.

Traffic rolled passed as Calvin trudged his way down the sidewalk. He had walked this path countless times now with his school being just over a mile from home. He was now in his eleventh year of school and would be turning 17 here in a couple of months.

He turned down onto his street, their little house in the suburb just south of Kyoto was quaint, but nice. Because it was only Calvin and his dad the house was more than enough.

"I'm home," he called as he kicked his shoes off by the front door. He didn't hear a response so he figured his father must still be at work.

He found a note on the table in the dining room. His dad was out shopping for a "special surprise," which now worried Calvin. His father had the tendency to dote on him because of everything that happened. I mean he didn't always mind because it meant some good stuff sometimes.

"Alright guess I'll get dinner ready," he said out loud to no one.

Cal dropped his bag on the floor leaning it up against the counter that separated the small dining room and the kitchen. He began to scavenge through the fridge to see what he could whip up.

"Dad needs to go shopping again," he sighed. Depressed over lack of ingredients he decided to go with a simple tuna sandwich.

Calvin had gotten used to life in Japan now. It took awhile to get the language down but luckily his dad has been teaching him a bit even before their move. It was school that had helped the most with learning though, mainly because he was tired of being the one who didn't understand anything. All of his teachers were very patient and understanding as he grew and became a better student. Certainly he was no genius like some students but he was a good student.

After finishing his bland sandwich he heard the door open, "Cal? You home?" His dad called out.

"Yup," he replied. At home the two of them spoke English. Now that Cal spoke Japanese his father had stopped the full immersive lessons of "only Japanese" to help him learn.

"I have a surprise for you, young man!"

Cal had been right about his earlier assumptions.

He dad came around the corner carrying a box and a bag in each arm. The box was rather large, big enough he need to rest it on his hip as he came in. Calvin's dad, Robert, was your typical middle aged business man. A little overweight with glasses and a receding hairline. But he was kind, and had been Calvin's greatest supporter.

"Well aren't you gonna ask me what it is?" He beamed, expectantly waiting his sons eager response.

"I didn't realize I'd need to ask, I thought this was more show and tell," Cal slyly smiled at his father.

"Oh Ha Ha, good one kiddo."

Cal actually hated that nickname but would never tell his dad.

"Alright I give, what is it?" He relented.

"Ta da!" He slid the small case out of the bag and onto the table.

It was a game case. Cal picked it up and began to look over the cover.

"Sword art online? Wait isn't this the game that just got released? How did you even get it? I heard there were huge lines waiting since last night?" Cal presses his father not really giving time for a response.

"Well my friend from the office, Joe you remember him? He bought two one for his kid and then one for his nephew as a surprise but it turns out his nephew went ahead and bought it with some of his friends so I asked if I could buy it off of him! Isn't that great timing!" Robert beamed with absolutely delight knowing that he had brought home the best gift he could have ever got his son.

"But dad this is a Virtual reality game and I'd need…." Cal stopped realizing now what was in the box. "Dad that's way too expensive! What were you thinking?"

Robert laughed, "Children shouldn't be worried about their parents expenses. Especially when it comes to birthday gifts."

Robert smiled at his son and patted him on the cheek. He could get like that, all mushy and sensitive and sometimes it made Cal cringe but most the time he appreciated it.

"My birthday isn't for a while dad." Cal said lightly, genuinely happy and excited.

"Well yeah but doesn't that just make me a cooler dad?" He grinned like the huge dork Calvin knew him to be. "But yeah don't expect anything on your birthday, or Christmas."

They both laughed and began to unwrap the nerve gear to set up the calibration. The launch of the game wasn't until tomorrow because the company wanted to make sure the servers wouldn't crash from the huge influx of players. So Cal enjoyed his night with his Dad as they talked about school and if Cal has made any new friends, which he hadn't.

Cal knew that this was secretly a ploy by his dad to try and get him to make some friends since he didn't really have any. He appreciated the gesture though and silently swore to do his best to make friends. He also knew it might be easier in game since no one would know who he actually was.

After finishing up the evening with his father Cal lay in bed too excited for tomorrow to sleep. He rolled over to see his phone lit up with a message. He grabbed it and looked to find a text from his mom.

_Hey kiddo, I sure miss you! I was hoping to talk to you about coming out to visit me sometime! Let me know if you have summer plans so I can book you a flight back out here! Well, I love you! Can't wait to hear from you!_

Cal put his phone face down on his end table. He wouldn't respond, he only ever responded when his dad made him. His mood now ruined, he rolled back over determined to get to sleep as quick as possible. Which didn't happen now because of the memories that plagued him.

Calvin awoke the next morning and immediately started planning. He had to convince his dad somehow to let him stay home so when the launch of Sword Art Online happened he could be one of the first players in game. If he pretended to be sick his dad might fall for it. Well might as well give it a shot, he thought to himself.

He crept downstairs slowly, moaning as if he felt terrible. His dad was already at the table finishing up breakfast. His father looked up to see Cal still in his basketball shorts and t-shirt.

"Awwww is someone not feeling well?" His father asked with a knowing smile.

Calvin already knew he was busted but figured he try it out anyway. "I just didn't sleep that well and feel really warm," Calvin grumbled trying to make his voice sound deep and scratchy.

"Oh yeah, uh huh, I'm sure that's exactly what's happening," Robert replied still smiling at his son. "Well if that's the case you better stay home today."

He froze. "Really?" He asked, knowing that his father knew he was only pretending.

"Oh yeah, and besides something tells me even if you went to school you would be a bit distracted," Robert laughed as he cleared the table and put his dishes into the dishwasher. "Just make sure you lie down and get some rest then." He winked at his son as he grabbed his briefcase and headed for the door.

Calvin turned to his dad as his father opened the door, "Hey dad!"

His father turned back, "Mhm?"

"You're the best." Calvin grinned no longer putting on the charade of being sick.

"Love you too son," he said as he closed the door and headed off to work.

Cal was beaming with excitement and almost couldn't handle it. He stood there for only a moment more thinking about how he really did have the coolest dad.

Coming out of his stupor he ran and then slid to the fridge grabbing a very slapdash breakfast of cereal and some fruit. He borderline inhaled it all like a vacuum cleaner.

After breakfast he jogged back upstairs to his room and dove into the box containing the Nervegear. He plugged it all in and set it on his bed, then he grabbed the game case and cracked it open. He still had just over an hour before the launch of SAO and figured he would check out the manual to see if there were any helpful hints or tips. It turns out there was. There was a section on basic movements and initiating sword skills, the special moves in the game used to defeat monsters.

His excitement was growing as time drew nearer to the launch. Calvin jumped over to the computer and began to search for any tips he could use to help him get through the tutorial and into the game much quicker. His query brought up the calibration the nervegear needed to do so he could have the game match up to his body movements. He jumped over to his bed and put on the helmet like device and powered it in. It displayed instructions in his visor to begin the calibration.

It began by having him do a whole bunch of different movements from stretching his arms out wide to walking in place. After about five minutes of these different movements a message popped up on the visor telling him job complete.

Cal's excitement was growing and growing as the time got nearer to the launch. He threw himself on his bed and bounced a couple of times before he lay there quite still. He looked over to his phone still face down on his end table. He picked it up and it opened to his mothers message last night. He looked it over once again and decided he would write back a short response.

_Yeah once I know, I'll let you know._

He didn't really plan on going back to see her but he wouldn't tell her that just yet. Even though it had been a few years he hadn't gotten over what she had done.

Calvin placed his phone back on the end table and sat up and grabbed the Nervegear. He put it on and laid down ready for the launch now. It was finally time, the machine booted up and Cal inserted the small plastic disc into his computer connecting Sword Art Online to his helmet. He laid still for a moment, excitement almost too much for him to handle. The Nervegear gave a slight chime letting him know it was ready.

"Link start," Cal said activating the full-dive system and entering into the world of Sword Art online.


	2. Chapter 2

After his eyes adjusted from the blinding white light, he found himself in a room like an old church. The room itself was octagonal and was built like a gazebo but instead of open air between the arches that framed the room it was just stone. In the center of the room Calvin noticed a standing mirror about a foot taller than him. He approached it and saw a face that wasn't his.

"So crazy," Calvin exclaimed as he began to really move and test how his body would react, everything felt so real. Even when he brought his hands up to examine it felt as though he was really moving them. He looked into the mirror once again and began to examine the face he saw. The game must have generated a default character for him because his face was very plain with brown hair and blue eyes. His clothing was basic tan cloth shirt and brown pants with leather vest armor, leather gloves and boots.

He took a step closer to the mirror and a small plus symbol popped up, floating in the air before the mirror. He reached out and tapped it. A menu appeared and slid down revealing many different options like physical features, clothing colors, and finally weapon. After scrolling through the menu he decided on changing his character's facial and hair features but leaving the size the same. He felt like being the height he was in real life would be easiest.

After a couple minutes of playing through the options he had given his character long silver hair with a messy bed head look and blue eyes. As far as clothing the only option was color and sleeve length so he went with a long sleeve blue shirt and left the pants their original brown. Now the final option was really the hardest choice. The options were sword, dagger, mace, lance, halberd, and spear. Calvin assumed most players would be playing with a sword because obviously it's SWORD Art Online. However, he wasn't one of those people that really liked doing what everyone else was doing. After weighing the decision a bit he decided on a spear thinking about a character from his favorite book series.

The menu slid down to reveal a new bar and keyboard asking his name. This was the hardest decision only because he wasn't a very imaginative person. He didn't want to use his real name because no one really did that in online games but when he tried a couple of generic names he saw they were all taken. Finally he came up with a twist on his own name, "Calorin." Thankfully it hadn't been taken.

Decisions all made Cal swiped the menu up trying to close it. It gave him one final question to confirm his choices and then disappeared. The mirror burst into thousands of tiny rainbow colored polygons and then was gone as well. Cal now noticed the twin doors placed between the arches behind where the mirror had been.

He jogged over to it and push on the doors opening them simultaneously. There was another bright flash of white light and then the room was gone and Cal stood on a raised platform in the middle of a huge plaza.

"Hail adventurer!" A man shouted, startling Calvin and making him reflexively jump to the right. The man wore a basic set of clothing white shirt and tan pants.

"Welcome to the town of beginnings, adventurer!" He greeted again smiling at Calvin. He didn't move from his spot though and Calvin now realized what this guys was. He was a Non Player Character or NPC for short.

"Here take this guide to aid you in your quest to reach the top floor of Aincrad, the castle floating in the sky!" The man extended a small book roughly larger than Calvin's palm. The title on the front said Beginners guide.

There were a couple of bright flashes from behind Calvin as more players joined in the game appearing, out of nowhere, on the platform. The NPC man repeated his same procedure giving each new adventurer a guide book.

Calvin strolled away from the platform beginning to take in his surroundings. Circling the plaza there were two to three story buildings all in what seemed a classic old age feel, like typical fantasy games. Mainly wooden structures with cement like walls indicative of the time period. Calvin could see at the north end of the plaza what appeared to be an alley of shops. To the south he noticed above the rooftops he could see a tall gate in the distance. That must be the exit out of the city.

Calvin noticed a lot of the players immediately, after appearing in the plaza, taking off to the markets at the north end of the plaza. Or others meeting friends and heading out to other areas of the town looking to explore and set off on adventures.

Calvin found a bench about halfway to the market street and decided he would sit down and read through the beginners guide. It held basic information about the town, like its name "The Town of Beginnings," and the market within as well as the exits, one being the gate near the south and the other being a checkpoint north past the market. He continued reading about basic controls, market systems, leveling, weapon upgrading and a couple of other helpful topics that would help him out later in the game.

After a good twenty minutes of reading he closed the guide and using the gesture the guide taught him, swiped down in the air in front of him to bring down his menu. He found all of the different menu options he would need, from stats to items he was ready to go.

He looked up to see the plaza mostly empty now that launch has been over for quite some time. He looked north towards the market to see the busy streets a mess with people. Cal didn't like the idea of getting mobbed as he tried to buy some items but it needed to be done, especially at his low level. So into the crowd he dove.

Market Street was a buzz with people and shopkeepers both buying and selling. He noticed a lot of the NPC shopkeepers had really life like speech patterns like a genuine shop owner. Calvin was bumped more than a few times as he attempted to navigate down the cobblestone road. Eventually there was enough of a gap that he made his way to a small stand with a female shopkeeper.

"Well hello there adventurer, looking to get some gear before you head out?" the woman asked as he approached. She seemed rather plain with her brown hair and matching eyes, simple clothing to match the rest of the townsfolk.

"Uh yes, I'll need just a couple of health and mana potions to start thank you, about five each." Cal had read that he would only be getting low grade items at first so he may need a few in a pinch.

"Alright that'll be ten col," the woman began pulling potions from under the stall and placing them on the table.

Col was this world's form of currency, it seemed to be the only form though so he wasn't sure if they just rounded prices up or down, he guessed it all depended on what and who you were dealing with.

Cal saw a window pop up above the potions in front of the shopkeeper asking if he wanted to purchase the potions for ten Col. He clicked the accept button and then saw another small window pop up above the potions again but this time asking what he wanted to do with them. He added them to his inventory and bid the lady farewell.

The fields outside of the town of beginnings were huge and beautiful. They stretched all the way to the edges of the mayors reaching to the clouds surrounding the floating castle called Aincrad. Here and there you could see a small lake or a thick patch of forest but the level seemed to mostly be open plain.

Players scattered the nearby fields fighting monsters trying to learn how to use the battling system. Cal gave a slight chuckle watching as some players were plowed over by boars because they didn't know how to activate their sword skills.

Boars in this game were the lowest and weakest creatures here in Aincrad. So they were found right at the beginning on level one. They really looked like boars in the real world except a bit more broad in the shoulders.

He found a patch of grass with some boars just a little distance away from town. He got close enough to one to pull up the red enemy marker above it's head. It turned and charged at him. Cal pulled his spear off his back and pointed it at charging beast. Now if he was right, which after reading the instructions, he knew he was, then when he took the proper stance, the tip of his spear began to glow.

"Reeeeee!!," the pig squealed as it lunged at Cal.

Cal let the system activate the skill _thrust, _with both hands on the spear his body stick piercing the pig in the shoulder halting its attack and dropping its HP about a third. Next he activated the skill _slash _which brought his spear in a sweeping motion across the side of the boar.

He jumped back a couple of feet giving him some distance between himself and his prey. The boar turned panting as if tired. The game really was lifelike is it showed exhaustion after loss of health. Cal was really appreciating the detail here in SAO.

The boar locked and charged, relentless in its efforts to attack Cal. He prepared another skill called _triple strike_. The system activated the skill and just like its name, three quick stabs with his spear head to finish off the monster. It shattered in what appeared to be thousands of glass shards then slowly disintegrated into dust. A small window popped up with the experience and items he gained from the fight. As was to be expected not a lot of good stuff and a small amount of exp and col.

Cal spent the next couple of hours farming through boats amassing a fair amount of exp and col, well for the low levels that is. He was just finishing up and started to head back when me noticed a bright flash of blue light over by some of the players he saw in the field with him. He looked up to see more flashes of light that were actually enveloping players that then disappeared.

The same bright light gathered round Cal and in a flash he was back at the teleport plaza where he first entered this world. It was full with what has to be every player in the game since there was only a couple feet of distance between everyone standing around. He noticed he seemed to be on the edge of the circular plaza near the streets that lead to the town exit.

He tried to walk down the street but found it blocked by red, translucent, hexagonal patterns labeled "warning" or "system announcement." These shapes created a dome around the plaza. Assuming this to be some starting event he patiently waited for the announcement.

Cries of complaints could be heard all through the plaza. The overall atmosphere was anxiety at the student teleportation.

"Hey why can't we log out?!" Someone yelled from the crowd. Shouts of agreement followed.

This really caught his attention because he hadn't tried to log out yet. He quickly pulled up his menu and scrolled down, and then back up and back down once more. There wasn't a log out button.

Gasps Broke out in abundance all of a sudden as people looked to the top of the dome. An oozing, thick, blood red liquid started spilling from the polygons above. The liquid descended down towards the crowd stopping and coalescing into a pool of the substance. It thrashed and eventually formed into a massive robe. There was no body inside the robe but it appeared to be filled with a shadow. Two white gloves appeared from the sleeves moving as if fitted to hands. The right glove and sleeve moved shushing the crowd.

What happened next would change the life of every player, forever.


End file.
